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keypunch

American  
[kee-puhnch] / ˈkiˌpʌntʃ /

noun

  1. Also called card punch.  Also key punch a machine, operated by a keyboard, for coding information by punching holes in cards or paper tape in specified patterns.


verb (used with object)

  1. to punch holes in (a punch card or paper tape), using a keypunch.

  2. to insert (data) into a computer by means of a keypunch.

    to keypunch code numbers.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of keypunch

First recorded in 1930–35; key 1 + punch 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“She didn’t have $300 for an abortionist and couldn‘t afford to lose her job as a keypunch operator.”

From Washington Post Jun. 9, 2019

Boston's John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. offers 25-hour work weeks within which keypunch operators can almost select their own hours.

From Time Magazine Archive

Secretaries, stenographers, keypunch operators and other clerical employees for the Government often earn more than similar workers in private industry.

From Time Magazine Archive

It does not have to be sorted at an 18-bin station called a "tingle table," numbered and coded by hand and sent to a keypunch operator who enters the data into IRS computers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Each line of code was imprinted on the card using a keypunch machine.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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